Barrow Colliery shaft accident, 1907

A cage carrying men up No. 3 shaft at Barrow Colliery, Worsbrough, was held for a moment at the Thorncliffe landing on 15 November 1907, swung violently and struck the shaft girders; seven men were thrown out and fell to their deaths.

Cause

The cage was signalled away while a landing flag was still down and anchored to it; it was held, swung violently and struck the shaft girders in its ascent.

What happened

At the end of the shift on 15 November 1907 a party of men got into the two-deck cage in No. 3 shaft at the Parkgate seam to ride to the surface. A horsekeeper was with them, bound for the Thorncliffe seam 38 yards lower, so the cage was first lowered to let him off there. At the Thorncliffe landing a two-level staging let men on and off both decks without moving the cage, and a hinged flag with two 3½-inch spikes was dropped across the gap from each landing to the cage floor, anchoring the cage while it stood.

The hanger-on at the upper landing let the horsekeeper off without dropping his flag, shouted to the assistant at the lower landing not to put his down, and at the same moment signalled the cage away. The lower flag was already down. As the cage started it was held and tilted, then the flag flew back, and the cage swung violently. On its way up the top of the cage struck the girder under the Parkgate landing hard enough to damage both, broke free and struck another girder higher up before the engineman saw something was wrong and stopped it. Seven men were thrown out at one or other of these places and fell to the bottom of the shaft, more than 70 feet, and were killed instantly; six more were injured. By one account seventeen men had been in the cage, twelve on the upper deck and five on the lower.

Investigation & inquiry

At the inquest the two men operating the cage at the landing were found guilty of 'great carelessness', where many such inquests returned accidental death.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• On 15 November 1907 seven men were killed in No. 3 shaft at Barrow Colliery, owned by the Barrow Haematite Steel Company Limited. ^1,2,3
• The cage was signalled away while the lower landing's flag was down; it was held and tilted, swung violently, and struck girders at the Parkgate landing and above, throwing seven men out. ³
• Seventeen men were in the cage, twelve on the upper deck and five on the lower; the seven killed fell over 70 feet. ¹
• Six other men were more or less seriously injured. ³
• The inquest found the two men operating the cage guilty of 'great carelessness'. ¹

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 12 times in this record, first in the summary: “A cage carrying men up No. 3 shaft at Barrow Colliery, Worsbrough, was held…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “A cage carrying men up No. 3 shaft at Barrow Colliery, Worsbrough, was held for a moment at the Thorncliffe landing on 15…”
• Horsekeeper (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…cage in No. 3 shaft at the Parkgate seam to ride to the surface. A horsekeeper was with them, bound for the Thorncliffe seam 38 yards lower, so the…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “A cage carrying men up No. 3 shaft at Barrow Colliery, Worsbrough, was held for a moment at the…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Barrow Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Barrow Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Barrow shaft accident, 15 November 1907 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026